Tote Board, Temasek Trust among top 20 institutional funders in Asia
A Bridgespan report also notes that in the arena of corporate giving, four of the 20 largest givers worldwide are from Asia
[SINGAPORE] Gaming has taken on a positive spin. A new report has ranked The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, The Nippon Foundation and Singapore’s Tote Board – in this order – as Asia’s top three institutional funders.
The reason they came out on top is the regulatory environment in which they operate, said Gwendolyn Lim, partner and South-east Asia office head at Bridgespan, which on Tuesday (Sep 9) released the list of Asia’s 20 largest institutional funders.
These three organisations are required to channel their gaming proceeds into social good, she added.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust obtains its funding from horse racing, while The Nippon Foundation generates revenue from motorboat racing; Tote Board directs the gaming revenue from Singapore Pools towards doing good for society.
Other institutional funders on the list include Reliance Foundation (ranked eighth) and Alibaba Foundation (11th). Organisations like these are part of a private corporation, and also have shareholders, noted Lim. “So they (need) to keep cash reserves to grow the company.”
Bridgespan, a global non-profit consulting company for philanthropies and non-profit organisations, published the list as part of a larger report called The Largest Institutional Philanthropies Step Up Giving. The study tracked Asia’s top 20 institutional funders from 2019 to 2023, as well as globally.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
In the Asia rankings, Singapore organisations took four spots, or a fifth of the list. Tote Board donated US$357 million on average over the five years. Temasek Trust, which ranked 12th, gave US$57 million over the same period.
Lee Foundation (16th) contributed an average of US$30 million from 2019 to 2023, and the Tanoto Foundation (18th) donated US$25 million during that time.
Lam Chee Weng, chief executive officer of Singapore Pools, said: “Established to counter illegal gambling and channel funds towards national and social good, our business model was designed from the outset to ensure community benefit...
“Each year, we contribute over S$400 million – a significant share of our turnover – to Tote Board, to support vital causes... This deliberate structure provides the sustainability and scale needed for critical programmes to reach those who need them most, enabling non-profits to deliver their work effectively and sustainably.”
Bridgespan’s Lim noted that foundations “show a desire by the funder to become more structured and strategic about their giving”. She added: “Once you’ve set up a foundation, (questions such as) ‘What do we want our foundation to stand for?’, ‘What will we fund and, just as importantly, what will we not fund?’ (will be asked).”
Globally, Gates Foundation topped the list of the 20 largest institutional funders worldwide, with US$6.1 billion over the five years. Wellcome Trust was ranked second with US$1.5 billion in donations, and The Bloomberg Family Foundation came in third with US$1.1 billion.
Corporate giving impact
Also released on Tuesday, the High-Impact Approaches to Corporate Giving report tracked the 20 largest corporate givers worldwide and in Asia.
US companies took the lead globally. Johnson & Johnson clinched the top spot with US$3.1 billion donated; pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company took second place with US$2.9 billion in contributions. Ten other American companies were on the list.
Europe also had a noticeable presence, with four spots taken by European companies.
Rounding off the international list were Asian organisations: The Hong Kong Jockey Club and its Charities Trust (eighth), South Korea’s Samsung Group (12th), China’s Tencent Holdings (14th) and China Three Gorges Corporation (20th).
These same four companies took the top four spots in the list of Asia’s 20 largest corporate givers.
Bridgespan hopes that corporations will use the report to rethink their approaches and find effective ways to give back. “We focus on corporate giving and corporates because they’re such a large part of our economy. And they’re key... because corporations have so many assets at their disposal above and beyond the actual dollars,” said Lim.
This is especially important now, she added, noting that since US President Donald Trump took office, billions of dollars meant for official development assistance have been pulled back and deployed elsewhere.
“The amount that governments have available for their own domestic spending on programmes (with social) impact will probably decrease over time,” Lim said. “I think governments are trying to figure out how to stretch their dollar as much as possible.”
In “a world where dollars are getting scarcer”, vehicles such as blended finance that bring together various stakeholders – including governments, corporates and non-profits – are needed, she added.
Citing DBS’ S$1 billion commitment over 10 years to help the low-income and underprivileged as an example, she said: “I do think that over the next five years, I expect to see a lot more structured strategic corporate giving based out of Singapore.”
As for why Bridgespan measured impact only by dollar amounts and not other metrics for its reports, Lim replied this was “the easiest... and most stable” point of comparison across companies. “But we recognise that that’s not the only form of giving.”
Moreover, support from for-profit organisations remain important even as non-profits move towards self-sustaining models, noted Desmond Kuek, CEO of Temasek Trust.
“Non-profits need patient capital to innovate and grow. Financial support bridges funding gaps while strengthening organisational capabilities and resilience, enabling non-profits to become more self-sustaining over time,” he said. “This is why multi-sector partnerships are essential for lasting impact.”
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
